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‘Operation Christmas Child’ aims to help kids around the world feel loved during the holidays

The project partners with local churches to collect shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items and deliver them to children in need

PORTLAND, Ore. — The boxes at Canby Alliance Church are going on a journey to bring a smile to a child across the globe in places like Peru, the Philippines, Russia and other places. "We don't know where they are going to go, but each child that gets one of these gifts knows that someone cared about them, " said Susan Buck with Canby Alliance Church.

The church teamed up with Operation Christmas Child to collect shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items. “Many of these children they are in orphanages, they are in refugee camps, they are in schools over in communities that have far less," explained Buck. "often for some of these kids, this is the only personal gift they’ve ever received."

Operation Christmas Child is a project by Samaritan's Purse. A Christian organization that helps the poor around the world. They do it by working with local churches. Canby Alliance Church isn't the only drop-off location in town, there are several other churches involved in the project including Hinson Baptist Church. "We've been a drop-off center for 12 years now and before that,we did it as a church," said Diane Burnett at the Hinson Baptist Church drop-off site.

Credit: CK
'Operation Christmas Child' curbside donations this year because of COVID-19

This year because of COVID-19 instead of foot traffic the churches are seeing lines of cars and donations being collected curbside. Once the boxes leave the various churches, they head to central collections in Gresham. From there, the boxes go to California before making their final journey to delivering a smile to children in need. 

You can either build a shoebox gift online or find a drop-off location near you.

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